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muse | three

EDITION 17CONTENTSlifestyle

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Published & Distributed by: Coalition : Tel: (021) 913 8423 | Fax: 086 544 1361info@museonline.co.za | www.museonline.co.za Magazine Publishers: David McKinley, Thomas WhitebreadManaging Editor: David McKinley - dave@museonline.co.za Music Editor: Dave Mac - dave@museonline.co.zaSales Director: Thomas Whitebread - thomas@museonline.co.za Contributors: Dave Mac, Thomas Whitebread, Terri Love, Mary Honeychild, Mickdotcom, Paul Blom, Alan Ratcliffe, Alistair Andrews, Kurt Slabbert, Damien Albetto, jezebel, James Rose-Mathew, Jonathan Pike, Greg Bester, Chantall Nortjé, Deborah Rossouw, Sergio Pereira, Nicolai Roos, Steven Jacobson, Craig Wilson, Johann Smith, Eliza Day, David Chislett and Matthew De Nobrega

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From The EditorBetter Red than Ded - Sound Of The UndergroundKings Of Leon: Come Around South AfricaKings Of Leon: Come Around South AfricaStaind: Chapter V1machineri: Arrive With Nothing. Leave The Same.Imagining Sound: Storm Thorgeson And The Art Of Musical VisualizationDan Patlansky: Speaking In Bluesjezebel's VPL: with Gerald Clark - Midnight In The Garden Of Blues & PeopleStalking ShadowclubStalking ShadowclubTry Fidelity? Three Band/Artists To Watch Out ForTry Fidelity? Three Band/Artists To Watch Out ForBombino: The Singing SurvivorChris LetcherInside The Machine: Music NewsInside The Machine: Music NewsLegends of Modern Music: Jeff BuckleyClassic Albums: Zappa. Joe's GarageNew AlbumsNew AlbumsGame ReviewsVenue Guide & Live EventsVenue Guide & Live Events

muse | four

EDITOR’S NOTE

H EDITORIAL CONTRIBUTIONS:Feature Writers and Columnists

Ramble on...

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ere’s a little fact about music appreciation. The music that you listen to when life is free and life is a jol is likely to be the music that you will remain attached to most of your adult, music listening life. So if your were a teenager or college student, say in the nineties, then it’s the 90’s bands that’ll be the mainstay of your music listening ear thereafter. What this means is that when you

turn, for example 40, and have that big 40th birthday bash, all married like with kids, mortgage bond, 9 to 5 job, peak hour traffic every day, braais with the in-laws on weekends, kids sport on Saturday mornings... you know life in the ‘burbs with the white picket fence and all – shoot me now! - So as I was saying when you have that 40th bash you’ll end up rocking out to all those 90’s tunes you grew up on.

It’s unavoidable and here’s why; firstly there is the whole nostalgia thing which is kinda obvious. It’s your 40th – heck, if ever there was a good time to get nostalgic and listen to all those tunes you rocked out to when life was free then this would be it, but secondly and this is my real point; you’ll also play all your old 90’s songs because when you grew up, (finished college, got that ‘sensible’ job, settled down and started to become an adult) that’s when you stopped taking a real interest in music and started to die a little inside every day. Be warned it’s very subtle though. This does not happen overnight. Slowly your appetite for new music wanes, the regular Friday night live gig at your local venue becomes monthly, then six monthly and then soon you’ll be saying ‘shit bud I can’t remember when I watched a live band play hey!’ Those wild all weekend benders at music festivals have been replaced by Mr. Responsible.

So, here is my point. If you are 20-something right now and you are reading this and thinking ‘pl-eeease dude I’ll never stop loving new music and the ‘burbs? Are you kiddin’ me?’ I am sorry to say the statistics are against you. Just ask your dad. And if you are already 40-something, or perhaps 30-something and reading this you should have an inkling as to what I am alluding to although I must congratulate you – at least you are reading my magazine and clearly still have an interest in music, fleeting or not.

So here’s the deal. Let’s make a pact right here, right now. Never give up on music. Ever. No matter where else you end up in life, no matter how responsible you need to become, without music your soul will die a little every day. Don’t just save it for the nostalgic ‘those were the days’ events like birthdays and holidays. That’s called living in the past. Live for now, live for today and embrace the awesome new sounds of the 21st century ‘cos while the music industry as we knew it may be dying, music itself is being reborn all the time.

Within these pages right here, in this edition, we speak of many great and interesting artists both here and abroad so let this be the moment when you embrace music for today and for the future!

Till death do us part. Music I love you.

Dave Mac

Mickdotcom – Features WriterStrange he may be at times but that’s why we love him so. Mick has an extraordinary talent with words and an even more extraordinary taste in music. He brings a much needed eccentric edge to MUSE.

jezebelWordsmith and worldwide wanderer, jezebel now makes her home between the lines, writing for print and pixel. She enjoys dissecting the arts and their contribution to (sub)culture(s) as well as encouraging critical inquiry into everyday existence.www.wwwordup.blogspot.com / www.facebook.com/jezebellll

James Rose-MathewForever roving around UK and Europe, the restless James has an eye for a good story and an ear for good music. Whether he attends a massive electronic outdoor festival, or the heaviest of heavy metal shows, you can be sure James manages to somehow balance his mind between having the party of his life and actually getting the story.

Hugely passionate and equally adept we always look forward to his next venture abroad as he give us the lows and highs of some of world’s best indie artists around today.

Kurt Slabbert – Play Better Guitar Kurt completed his studies at the Guitar Institute in London in 2003, and moved back to SA to take up a teaching post at COPA. He also runs his own production company called Bluenoise productions that writes for radio and television. He currently plays for Sama nominated band, Jam, on Tuesdays and does various live sessions and studio work. Kurt endorses line 6 gear. Check out www.bluenoise.co.za and www.realguitar.co.za

Alistair Andrews - Play Better BassAlistair is a professional bass player, music technologist and producer. He specialises in 6 and 12 string bass (preferably fretless). He has performed with international greats such as Phil Driscol, Efrain Toro, Alvin Dyers, Winston Mankunku, Merton Barrow, Errol Dyers,

Robbie Jansen, Harold Jephta and many more. He also lectures music technology with one of Africa's top Jazz and African music programs at The University of Cape Town. Alistair endorses WARWICK Basses and strings, MEC pickups, SWR amplification and DIGITECH effects. He also runs the high-tech & digital section at Paul Bothner Music. Http://www.alistair.co.za

Jonathan Pike - Your Private UniverseJonathan currently works as an Audio engineer and instructor at Cape Audio College. He has also in the past managed a theatre and worked as a Lighting and Sound engineer at the University of Kwazulu Natal Pietermaritzburg.

Alan Ratcliffe - Software Reviews & TutorialsAlan is the author of the Electric Guitar Handbook

and is busy writing a book entitled Hotrod Your Electric Guitar. Find out more about him at www.ratcliffe.co.za or discuss all things guitar with him at www.guitarforum.co.za

http://www.capeaudiocollege.co.za

hose of you who have memes, mash-ups, sampling and The most impressive part of this j o y f u l l y e j e c t e d style. Slowing down Screw style and primordial pie in the sky is that the yourselves from reality as speeding up to super-psychotic amount of production that is coming we perceive it in yukky acmes of innovation that all takes out of these online artists is like flesh and blood and place on social networks like nothing you’ve ever seen before. Due e m b r a c e d s e x y Facebook, Rateyourmusic and to the close-knit nature of the cyberspace wil l get Soundcloud, and secret groups in networks, music is produced all day, where this is all going. revolt against mainstream media. every day and then enjoyed by others

The sleepy sighs of the music ‘scene’, Writing about witch haus, the same day at parties or even echoing through the concrete jungles Seapunk, Lolicore and home-spun remixing it and putting it on a mixtape of our world, are lacking in sparkle hip-hop almost goes against the for further sharing online. and devoid of magic. This is because point of this kind of production. In fact The chat on the groups is like sonic evolution is no longer being some of the most ardent witch house high school on speed after hitting fast conjured up in production the way it occultists deliberately remove all forward on your VCR. Slang and style o n c e w a s i n o u r p h y s i c a l recognisable information from the changes faster than you can send a environment. Music in all its transient mystery has eluded the real world and m o v e d o n i n t o t h e immersive possibilities of the internet. That’s where it’s at ya’ll. Swag.

In the last couple of years, one of the great visionary, snake-hipped prophets of our time, David Bowie, has had his two-tone, misty-eyed burbling proven, “The absolute transformation of everything that we ever thought about music will take place within ten years, and nothing is going to be able to stop it. I see absolutely no point in pretending that it’s not

internet in order to keep the ‘scene’ trend and what was hot on YouTube going to happen. I’m fully confident pure and avoid being put into a box, last week is considered ‘classic that copyright, for instance, will no or just having to deal with people listening’ today. You pretty much longer exist in ten years, and who don’t know what the ef is up. have to constantly contribute if you authorship and intellectual property

Witch haus as an underground want to keep up. is in for such a bashing. Music itself is music movement is pretty difficult to Meme’s the word in the going to become like running water describe or pin down. It’s not directly incredible secret society. Music’s or electricity. So it’s like, just take related to slowed down beats or also never looked so damn good; advantage of these last few years horror like it is sometimes referred to these fashionably correct creators because none of this is ever going to by those who are only exposed to the really know how to put the swag in happen again. You’d better be more ‘commercial’ witch haus drag. prepared for doing a lot of touring derivation bands like Salem. How it Finally a direct refusal to go because that’s really the only unique pretty much works is that a bunch of down the shallow nasal passage of situation that’s going to be left. It’s like-minded internet geeks all over synthetic pop, ‘Cyber Wave’ is what is terribly exciting. But on the other the world spend most of their days going to carry music, at least until the hand it doesn’t matter if you think it’s online and smoking a lot of pot while next digital development. exciting or not; it’s what’s going to their imaginations and DJ skills run Now for South Africa to join the happen… ” (June 9, 2002).wild on scintillating aesthetics and unreal world and get some serious The current music movement is breaking music boundaries. broadband. a Technicolor dreamboat of themes,

muse | six

COLUMNISTBy Eliza Day

Better Red than Ded

Sounds of the Underground

T Invasion of The Mole Men!! Crossing over Live to Eliza Day...

http://www.justmusic.co.za

outh African music fans don’t tour is still scheduled for the end of magazine in 2007, just after the release of like tour cancellations or October!” their third studio album, Because Of The postponements. Postpone Big Concerts’ reassurance must’ve Times, which ultimately ensured the band once, and we might forgive eased fans’ unbearable nerves – but now, some international recognition, but had you. Postpone twice, and you as the tour draws nearer, the blood not quite catapulted them into global might as well just load your pressure inevitably rises again, as anxiety superstardom just yet. music onto The Pirate Bay, has been converted into excitement, It was only after the release of their

because we won’t be buying your albums while South Africa eagerly anticipates fourth album in 2008, Only by the Night, anymore (just ask Limp Bizkit). We won’t what many have referred to as one of the which spawned the smash-hit singles, even talk about cancellations, because last few, true rock ‘n’ roll bands of today. Sex on Fire and Use Somebody, that the that is just unforgivable and you’ll be Fol lowi l l c lan suddenly became shunned worse than a ginger stepchild. household names and darlings of Origins

mainstream radio. Nathan Followill Formed in Mt. Juliet, Tennessee in 1999, explains, “The funny thing is that Only By The dramallama the band, named after their grandfather The Night was the first album we In January of this year, drummer Nathan Leon from Talihina, Oklahoma, consists of approached with the attitude of not trying Followill confirmed on his Twitter account brothers Caleb Followill (vocals, rhythm to make a popular record. We just made that Kings of Leon were postponing their guitar), Nathan Followill (drums, backing the record we wanted to make and it South African tour, originally scheduled vocals), Jared Followill (bass, backing ended up being our best-selling album.” for March, in order to allow him time to vocals) and their cousin Matthew Followill

Despite this new-found popularity, recover from surgery for a torn right (lead guitar, backing vocals). the band did second-guess their sudden labrum and bicep. Fans weren’t happy, Fairly rapidly, KOL built up an explosion. In an interview with Spin but all was dandy when new tour dates impressive fan following in their Magazine in December 2009, frontman were announced for October. formative years, and by the time their EP, Caleb Followill admitted, “We definitely However, in August, the interwebs Holy Roller Novocaine, and debut album, got bigger than we wanted to be. You feel went nuts, after news broke that they Youth and Young Manhood, rolled out in like you've done something wrong. That were postponing their US tour, due to a bit 2003, the band were already getting the woman in mom jeans who'd never let me of a public meltdown by frontman Caleb thumbs up from tastemakers and date her daughter? She likes my music.” Followill. The rumour mill went into renowned publications, which favourably

Nonetheless, even if they were overdrive and local fans began to panic compared them to the likes of Lynyrd doing the rockstar thing of resenting that KOL might be postponing their South Skynyrd and The Strokes.commercial success, the band still toured African dates for the second time. In fact the globe for two years behind Only By the rumours were so rife that organiser How good can Kings of Leon get? The Night, picked up accolades and Big Concerts were forced to come out and “How good can the Kings of Leon get? awards - including a prestigious Grammy declare: “Please note that the Kings of They’ve already gone further than nomination - and became goliaths of the Leon South African dates are not affected anybody could have guessed.” This music industry.by the US tour postponement! The SA quote was taken from Rolling Stone

muse | eight

COVER FEATUREBy Sergio Pereira

S presented by Nokia, 5FM and SABC3presented by Nokia, 5FM and SABC3

Come

The Kings of Leon The Kings of Leon

found its way into Rolling Stone’s Best Come around successAlbums of 2010 list at #18, and earned With success comes inevitable criticism, the band another Grammy nomination. and this came from the band’s initial fan

base who felt that their early albums South Africa awaitswere significantly better than the

commercial heavyweight of Only By The Not content to be downloading off the Night. KOL must’ve been trolling the illegal torrent sites or copying from their forums, because, on their 2010 effort, friends (naughty, naughty), local Come Around Sundown, they went back audiences have also been contributing to their roots. “I don’t think any of us positively to the band’s enormous were thinking we had to make a record success, as Only By The Night has gone that would stand next to Only By The Platinum and Come Around Sundown Night. We definitely didn't want to go in has achieved Gold status in SA. there and make a record out of fear that it Unquestionably, these achievements wouldn't be as big,” Nathan says, before prove without a shadow of a doubt that explaining how the new album is also a South Africa wants Kings of Leon here – portal for newer fans to rediscover the and this is something that has also been band’s back catalogue. “It'll be neat for confirmed by 5fm Program Manager, people who know us only from our hits, Vukile Zondi, who is quoted as saying, because they’ll get to hear where we’ve “Kings of Leon has been the most come from musically. I think a couple of requested band to see live by South these songs will turn on newer fans to Africans for several years now.”our older music, because it’s hard to Now, with the tour closer than ever, imagine the band that wrote Sex on Fire fans finally believe that it will really take is the same band that wrote Trani [from place. The ‘will-they-come-or-won’t-Youth and Young Manhood]. They’re they-come’ debate is still raging on the songs from totally different worlds. I blogs and forums, but all we can do is think Come Around Sundown has wait. Wait until the moment that the something for everyone on it, and I hope lights go down and the first few notes it leads people to discover us in a totally from Caleb Followill’s guitar officially new way.” announce their arrival onstage.

Come Around Sundown ended up When that moment happens, the being another hit for the band, as it naysayers will be eating their words and debuted at #2 on the Billboard Top 200, the rest of us will be rocking out!

muse | nine

COVER FEATUREAround South Africa“One of the last few, true rock

'n' roll bands of today…”

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South African Tour Dates:The Kings of Leon presented by Nokia, 5FM and SABC326 October: Cape Town Stadium, Cape Town29 October: Soccer City, FNB Stadium, JohannesburgTickets still available at ComputicketWith support from Die Heuwels Fantasties, Shadowclub and The Black Hotels

COMPETITIONFREE Tickets 6 double tickets (seated tickets valued @ R 340 each) for the Cape Town ShowAnd 6 double tickets (seated tickets valued @ R 340 each) for the Joburg show.To Enter:Visit the Muse Magazine website today www.museonline.co.zaOr scan the tag below to enter on your Smartphone.

muse | ten

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEWBy Sergio Pereira

S

“There's no question that the majority of our success has come from some of the

softer songs that we've done…”

ixteen years after record, there’s still some the i r incept ion , heavy songs on there – it’s m e l o d i c h a r d always been a part of what we rockers Staind are do – but there’s no question still going strong. that the majority of our Surviving nu-metal, success has come from some metalcore and even of the softer songs that we’ve the current post- done.”hardcore era, the

Massachusetts outfit are always a constant on the charts and

Interestingly, for the first time playlists of rock fans around the

in the band’s history, their globe. In fact, it seems like all that

record label gave them a Aaron Lewis (vocals/guitar), Mike

deadline for their new album. Mushok (guitar) and Johnny April

So, did this deadline make the (bass) touch, inevitably turns to

band feel pressured or did it gold.

force them to just deliver a U n l i k e m a n y m o d e r n

raw record without over-counterparts, the band have had

thinking too much?a regular line-up for most of their

“ T h a t ’ s a g o o d entire career – until the recent exit

question,” Mike pauses. “I of Jon Wysocki (drums), who left

don’t know if we’ve ever over-after the recording of their new

thought anything. There’s a l b u m . U n d e n i a b l y, t h i s

always pressure when you go departure must make things feel

to make a record. You always a little different in the Staind

want to do something camp, and the remaining

different and come up with a members will have some thinking

group of great songs – in that, to do about finding an adequate

it creates its own kind of replacement for Jon.

pressure, especially if you’ve “Of course…it is definitely

had any kind of success. I do different. It wasn’t an easy choice

think that the pressure was or path,” says guitarist, Mike

definitely more on this record Mushok. “As of right now, we

for that reason. More so for have our drum tech, Sal

Aaron, as the songs were Giancarelli, who is also a great

pretty much done – he writes drummer, playing drums for us.

the lyrics around the music We have plans to try and do some

once it’s done. While we were auditions, possibly towards the

doing it, he was doing his solo end of the year, because we don’t the band discussed the direction of their

thing, so it made for a difficult process, but have a lot of time right now.” next album after TIOP and how they were

I really think he stepped up and did a great going to go back to their roots. “I focused

job. Funny thing with Aaron is that he kind on writing heavier songs and making a

of needs that pressure to get things done.” heavier record. We’re really happy with the

One of the reasons why the trio might not In closing, I ask Mike the hypothetical end results and how it came out. It’s

have much time on their hands is because question: if Staind were to end tomorrow, definitely a return to where we came from,

they’ve just dropped a brand-new self- would this to be the album he would want but with a more modern sound.”

titled release, their seventh studio album. to be remembered for? It’s actually quite surprising that

Refusing to release another collection of “Sure. I’m definitely proud of this Staind have gotten heavier now in their old

soft songs, Staind have promised that record. You have to feel like the last record age (snicker), because most bands seem

their new album will feature harder and you’ve put out is the best thing you’ve to get softer as their career progresses.

heavier material – but why the sudden done. If you don’t feel that way, then the Perhaps the band decided that they don’t

change? record is probably not done. I do think want to be remembered just for their

“We felt it was time. Especially with from all that pressure and turmoil of ballads?

our last record [2008’s The Illusion of making this record, something great came “I definitely consider us a rock band,”

Progress], [where] we experimented and from it.” Mike laughs, insisting that he hopes that

wanted to try something different, and we For more information on Staind, go to no one considers Staind as just a ballad

did that and we were happy with how it www.staind.com.band. “Even if you go back to our last

turned out,” Mike says, before adding how

Deadlines and Legacy

Get Heavy!

STAINDCHAPTER VII

ock and roll has been Daniel: A lot of bands make it big here, but thing: don’t do drugs. It’s bad for your proclaimed dead. Aren’t you can only go so far before you’ve soul. you merely dreamers reached the ceiling. It’s really young here. seeking validation from I think if we go overseas I would like to Well...not to be petty or anything but a departed music genre, come back frequently. your live vocals are a bit inaudible.well revered and sorely Sannie: I grew up in London, but SA is my Daniel: She phrases her lyrics in a very m i s s e d – a n d t h a t home. I love this country. The only interesting way. Like Brandon Boyd from ultimately we’re all just difficulty is my career. The infrastructure Incubus. She sings over a bar in such a playing make believe? is very limited and everyone is getting way that it won’t just start and end in a bar. Sannie Fox: I don’t think competitive. It’s petty. And I need to see And if you’re not used to that, it sounds rock is dead. I don’t think other successful musicians. We’re cut off strange.

it ever will be. Every artist seeks from a very important thing: sharing S a n n i e : A n d s o u n d e n g i n e e r s validation. This is not a dream, this is ideas. predominately put vocals at the same reality. level of the drums and guitar. If you can’t

You think you will be as easily forgotten hear what I say, the lyrics are in the album. Once over breakfast, Mojo Magazine’s as Tweak, or are you going to do what Sylvie Simmons gave a similar question members of Fuzigish have done; help What has the last three years taught to The Black Keys, who simply shook pioneer alternative music in South you? their heads. Africa? Daniel: The industry is much better than it Daniel Huxham: People will always latch Daniel: I hope we inspire people. was ten years ago. You can actually make on to rock. There are bands that are to the Sannie: We’ve only been around for three a career. Just give it more time.point and those who latch on. I think if years. You should just go for a certain Sannie: We work hard, when we rehearse your heart is in it, it rings true. amount of time. If you work hard, your we’re fucking hard and that’s it.

music will live one. But there’s an element The bands that inspire you... greatly of magic you need, to be in the right place After machineri left the interview, I felt like influenced the society of their time. Do at the right time, and hope the magic their lyrics. I arrived with nothing and left you think you can? swings. Swing it! Swing it! the same. They already say what they Sannie: Some of my lyrical ideas have need to in their music. If things were been borrowed from politics. Like Father Sannie, you have been described as a different, they could refuse, like their idol Gun and Soul People, on the new album. grunge Barbie, drug addict and prima band, Led Zeppelin, to be interviewed at There’s stuff that makes me angry. But donna. Where is the truth in that, if it’s all – because they would know that people whatever you sing about comes from a anywhere at all? would listen without explanation. sincere place. Sannie: I don’t have much of a response.

I’m here to do my job. And unless you Follow them on Facebook here –Roger Young [Mahala] has stated know me personally, don’t say anything. www.facebook.com/machineri‘machineri demand a kind of woozy head Fans that listen to my music are there for bobbing attention, in a scene that may the music. Those who talk shit are entitled not be able to provide it.’ What do you do so. I only care if it’s stuff about music. I think? can’t wipe the rumours, but I will say one

muse | twelve

FEATUREBy Johann M Smith

R

After three years of grunge-blues noise, constant praise and persistent insults, machineri have made their first full length album featuring art

work by the legendary Storm Thorgeson. Over beers, coffee and cigarettes we discussed business, drugs and the state of the nation.

machineri: Arrive with nothing. Leave the same.

muse | thirteen

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEWBy MickdotcomImagining Sound

TStorm Thorgeson and the art of musical visualization

oday's world is a cacophony Picturing the music. of binary data. The world we How did it all begin - What triggered the navigate on an hourly basis interstice of your visual work and is an assault of arbitrary music/bands?i m a g e s a n d g e n e r i c "Circumstance involving a friend who information. Even music - declined to do Saucerful [Pink Floyd's A humankind's most spiritual Saucerful of Secrets 1966]; so I offered claim to artistry - is being my services. The band said: 'What do clipped and transmogrified you know about album covers?' 'Not a into byte-sized bits swept lot...', said I. 'Okay', said they."

along the cyber slipstream like so much [Following Saucerful.., Pink Floyd called brightly fading detritus. on Thorgerson for around a dozen of

Album covers (that already near- their legendary covers, including Wish extinct artform) seem for the most part You Were Here, Atom Heart Mother, The mere gaudily generic after-thoughts: Division Bell and Pulse..]One interchangeable with the next. Bleep-bleep. Click. Both David Gilmour and Roger Waters

attended art school, and the band Once upon a time, long, long ago... seems to have always been visually It was the mid-Sixties. Rock music, literate. [Thorgerson interrupts, "They infused with reckless, new-born have?"] To what extent, if at all, did e lec t r i c i t y, was booming in to members of Pink Floyd interact with unchartered territories of sound and your ideas and ultimate designs for meaning. The customary album cover - their albums?consisting of artist name and album title, "All four interacted via refinement and accompanied by still photo of said artist - criticism but did not design - except for was no longer sufficiently representative Animals, which was dreamt up by of the sonic energy contained in said Waters, and Momentary Lapse of album. Instead of the standard 'sit-down Reason, which came about in part from with your instrument of choice and we'll an idea of Gilmour's.”take a photo' approach, visual artists were commissioned to creatively What is the relationship between your represent the sonic swirls: to snap-shot cover art and a given album's musical the art rather than the artist. content?

Though millions remain unaware of "As close as we can make it. We him, the work of Storm Thorgeson is [Thorgerson's design group xxx] always inextricable from the music of Sixties/ listen to the music, often many, many Seventies legends like Led Zeppelin and t imes. We unrave l the under-Pink Floyd. His album covers for Led currents/preoccupations which inform Zep's Houses of the Holy and Pink the music, and use them to inform the Floyd's Dark Side of The Moon are cover.”consummately entwined with their sonic scapes. Decades later Thorgerson's How did your designing of local outfit work for the likes of Muse, Audioslave machineri's debut album come about, and The Mars Volta are similarly intimate and what was your vision behind it?and arresting - leaping free from the "I met the band in Cape Town through a global genericism of contemporary friend. I went to a gig, we got on, and I album covers. offered to design their cover if they'd like

Over the course of four decades his me to [Mick: Cough-cough-splatter - numerous visual contributions to tries to catch breath.] My design reflects Popular music have crowned him the the mixed gender of the band in the undisputed king of album cover design. rocks and in the body painting."

Most recently this visual giant of 20th century music designed the cover Any albums you would've loved to do for Cape Town-based band machineri's the cover art for but didn’t'?debut album. We were granted an "About 100... They're all in a book interview with the man. cleverly entitled 100 Best Album Covers

(Dorland Kindersley)." Check out www.stormthorgerson.com for more of the humble legend's visual audacity.

muse | fourteen

FEATUREBy James Rose-Mathew

Photo by: Derius Erasmus @ 3De Studios

Speaking in Blues Speaking in Blues

J “

DAN PATLANSKY: DAN PATLANSKY:

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He's done stints overseas, New Orleans most notably, where he has made a marked impact. So much so that this young musician has noted a shift in the demographics of his audience over time – “When I started out years back my fans were of the 40+ crowd. I've still got a big fan base of that age group, which is awesome, but in recent years younger people have been added to that fan base in a big way! That is really exciting for me. It means that this genre will never die. At my shows today we have a complete spread regarding age groups.”

The fact that his influence is so penetrating could be put down to the fact that, as he says, “I always put 100% into every performance regardless of the size of the crowd. And I'm never satisfied with where I'm at musically.”

Patlansky is the embodiment of an artist, fully invested in his craft and in his creations, a technical virtuoso but still deeply connected to the feelings conveyed and never one to rest on his laurels. He is in the final stages of producing his fourth album, one which

ust imagine if one could be deep into the night simply don't seem has high expectations considering all

as fluent on an instrument as far-fetched. Funnily, he adds, “It's previous outings have been critically

one speaks a language. amazing how quickly my playing gets acclaimed. He says of the new record,

That's where I want to be.” stale.” I was present in the throng lucky “I'm really excited about the new album.

So says one of the country's enough to catch his fiery performance at I think it has rawness to it and a lot of

finest guitar players, Dan Oppikoppi this year. Trying to fathom heartfelt energy. I think it’s far dirtier

Patlansky. If you've ever what 'stale' might mean for him, based than my previous albums, with the

heard the man coax a on the energy thrown down that fret strongest songs so far in my opinion. It's

melody from his Fender board that day, is somewhat laughable. a blues album, but with an old school

you'll know full well that this statement Because Dan Patlansky knows guitar. Rock n' Roll twist.”

makes him a pretty modest fella. He Like a boss. His modesty again checks makes six strings gabber in tongues. my run-away enthusiasm, claiming that

Watch Patlansky shred the blues @ The Western musical scale has only even for him “it's sometimes very hard

museonline.co.za or scan this tag to twelve little notes to it and yet this man to keep it fresh. For example, most of the

view on your Smartphone. pulls a gob-smackingly dynamic range guitar solos are improved on the night. of noise from that finite palette. It's So needless to say some nights are widely regarded that one needs to put in great and some are crap! So, just like at least 10,000 hours on a particular craft any other discipline I still try spend as to become a master of it. Patlansky is much time playing as I can.” only 29 and by his account “was about For those of you who've been 14 years old when the passion for somehow left out of the loop, Patlansky playing really took over.” I'm lousy at is a Blues man. For the last ten years he maths but it would appear logical to me has been showcasing his incredibly raw that he's been literally glued to his and provocative take on the genre to instrument for half of his life. captivated audiences around South

Images of the guy nestled in Africa, playing pretty much everywhere slumber while his fingers run some and anywhere that can stand the heat exotic scale over and over on autopilot that peels from his overworked fingers.

muse | sixteen

COLUMNISTBy jezebelPhoto : © Sarah Scott

Gerald thinks he’s closed, but the man is open for business. Thanks to Midnight Sessions SA, he has a DVD out before an album. Music biz, huh? It makes all the rules.

www.geraldclark.co.za

E

jezebel’s VPLwith Gerald Clark - Midnight In The Garden of Blues

and People

k love rougoed,” Gerald blurted out somewhere in our conversation, something that stood out against the gritty, self-taught stuff his fluid blues is built of. We’re sitting in a trendy Vredehoek café not eating dinner and I’m

wondering who on earth would want to go to a gig at midnight. Raw and real - that’s the premise of a participatory project he’s involved with called Midnight Sessions SA. It’s a new effort to put visuals to music, and to put you in the easy chair of an intimate, underground, after-dark jam via DVD.

Midnight Sessions is about the lifestyle that builds the show – good music, good whiskey, cheap wine, good friends, good times, and really late bedtimes. While it seems odd that juicy Gerald Clark (or anybody who sings for their supper) would release a DVD before a fresh album (isn’t the DVD the second base of music marketing?), when the idea is eighty percent inspiration and the rest is up to a businessman you trust, it’s not so far-fetched to invite everyone into your world without knowing them. In a chat to Gingerlocks, we agreed that the music industry needs more street cred, and that means multi-media, man.

jezebel: So how do you get away with it?Gerald: With playing so much – with what?

No, with being a ginger.I’m not sure I –

You ARE a ginger right? You mean how do I get away with being a ginger and playing 29 shows a month? It’s not about being an individual any more.

In business, you mean. And in music?Depends. You understand the music industry, probably better than I do, coz you pick the brains of producers and musos. My music career has been - since Delta Blue – under the

radar; I kept it there subconsciously. When I stepped into music it was never about making money, it was purely because I like doing it; there was an opportunity to do it. Do you think lots of guys pick up a guitar, and think, “I heard Jimi Hendrix this afternoon; I want to be a musician!”?

For sure!For me, I just really wanted to play blues. I spent four, five years without thinking ahead. When I write a song, I can never get away with anything. That’s why I don’t write thousands of songs. But the songs I do choose, I do believe in, and I will deliver it, and people will hear it. Music is music; it comes from the heart. If you don’t write an honest song, you need a very good producer. But I’ve seen some pretty young producers at work in studio and the result was excellent; I think that was because the music had integrity.

Like The Pretty Blue Guns, yeah. Do you think learning the business side of a music career is a little like learning to play to a click track? In studio? When the pressure’s on?It depends what you wanna do with the Ahem. Change of subject (sic) what music. If you want a successful does Jezebel’s VPL mean to you? album, you should learn the Very Poisonous Lingering.industry’s rules.

Ssss, Gerry, rou; no comment. Are there any other rules worth learning? http://www.facebook.com/MidnightThere’s a lot of rules I need to learn. SessionsSACooking, for me. I almost messed up a perfect egg and sausage meal this p.s. I love gingers. I wish I was a morning. ginger. Tori is a ginger.

You know about cholesterol, right? OK! I will not eat egg and sausage tomorrow morning. I will think of you when I juice my apple.

www.audiosure.co.zawww.audiosure.co.zaImported and Distributed byImported and Distributed by

www.audiosure.co.zawww.audiosure.co.zaImported and Distributed byImported and Distributed by

I

Johannesburg three-piece, Shadowclub, have had a tumultuous time since forming four years ago. They’ve been through three bassists, broken up and reformed and recorded demos only to ditch them, yet despite all of this have created a loyal following in the process. At last, they have an album, Guns and Money, and they’re going to do everything they can to ensure as many people as possible hear it.

meet Shadowclub outside a viability. This time we did it how we brand is, and we’re all on the same page.Johannesburg coffee shop on wanted to do it, and that meant doing the Klawansky says the problem was a warm September evening whole thing live.” that before now the band “never had all and the camaraderie between “We essentially moved into the the pieces together… or the right the three is almost palpable. studio, and Matt [Fink] made that bassist.”Having known them for a possible. It was the ideal environment,” “Most people have jobs they go to number of years and having says Moolman. Matthew Fink, of The from 9am to 5pm. And often ‘a hard time’ tracked the bands various Black Hotels fame and a man who’s means a tough project or a nasty client, vicissitudes, I start with the developing a reputation as a great but you still get paid,” says Moolman. “A big question their fans have producer, produced Guns and Money hard time for us was almost losing

been asking shortly after they appeared and allowed the band to essentially live in everything we had and almost killing on the live scene: Why the hell has it studio for the two-week recording each other. Getting to this point, with a taken so long to record and release an process. great product, is something we’re really album? Aside from overlaying vocals, and proud of.”

Vocalist and guitarist Jacques some additional harmonies and guitar Now signed to Karl Anderson’s Just Moolman laughs and says, “We had parts the band recorded every track Music label, whom they almost signed teething problems”. Drummer Isaac together, as if doing a live performance. with a few years ago, Moolman says the Klawansky adds, “We tried a couple They tell me they thought this was the band “weren’t ready for Karl the first time times”. Moolman reckons the band tried best way to capture the essence of around.”a few years ago to record at SABC but S h a d o w c l u b’ s s o u n d b e c a u s e , Klawanksy came to know Anderson that it “didn’t come together.” He says the ultimately, as Klawansky insists, better through his involvement with the band tried again last year, but the result “Shadowclub is a live band first and band Flash Republic, another of the was “too smooth and popified”. foremost”. label’s artists. “I knew we’d made a

Louis Roux, a childhood friend of For a long time the trio was mistake the first time. But we kept in Klawansky’s and the most recent person disjointed, performing erratically and contact,” says Klawansky. Despite a fall to fill the role of bassist nods agreeably, prone to periodic breaking- and making- out with Anderson, once the band felt “ T h e l a s t t i m e w e r e c o r d e d up. Moolman says that’s behind them suitably settled again, after Roux joined, conventionally, you know, with a click now, “We’re starting to work really well they approached him for a deal.track and that sort of thing. The together and being more diplomatic. producers focused on commercial We’re focused now; we know what the

They say they now enjoy a great what’s going on with ourselves. Being relationship with the label owner and in a band is an incredibly deep reckon they have him to thank for relationship to have with other people. getting their material on digital It’s like a marriage, and sometimes platforms like the iTunes store, and for egos and emotions run rampant.”encouraging them to press the 500 Although the band has only white vinyls of the album they’re selling recently started promoting the album at gigs. aggressively, Moolman says they’re

W h i l e A n d e r s o n h a n d l e s “always writing new stuff”and that the distribution and most of the band’s “writing experience is becoming very publicity and marketing, Klawansky has integrative. Louis is very involved. become de facto booking agent and We’ve got a ton of material waiting for manager. “We had bad experiences us to get it down.”with managers and booking agents. “This album marked a particular The industry here is small enough to do time, and it’s a great footprint of that it yourself,” he says. time,” says Roux.“I’m ready to record

Despite an increasing presence on another album again. I think we all are.” television, radio and online, the band They all agree, “This was the best still finds venues that haven’t heard of recording experience ever. We want to them and sometimes end up playing do it again, and soon,” adds Moolman.support stages. Moolman smiles and Roux says Shadowclub’s current states positively, “it’s a good thing that. idea of success is “playing loads and It keeps us grounded and motivated.” earning enough to get by, but we also

“From the outside looking in want to be able to have families and people think that because you have a ‘normal’ lives. It’s not just about video and a deal you must be doing stardom or the rock ‘n roll lifestyle”.well, but we’re still working hard,” says The band plans to promote the Roux.“Even when you get what you album and tour overseas, and are keen wish for there’s no time to take it in, you to see if a European label picks up on have to keep at it.” the release.

Moolman says in many ways the “How we define success changes band feels they’re “at the beginning with time, and will keep doing so,” says again”, but that now they’re“treating it Roux. “Right now we want to go more like a business, and we know we overseas, and our first stop is Europe have to go through all of the hard work next year during the South African required to make it a success.” winter. We have aspirations of getting

Regarding the recent success the released elsewhere too, and to do that band has had in the mainstream media, we need to do what we’re doing here, Jacques says there’s no denying “the there. But we still want to be able to audience changes once someone like come back here and play The 5FM picks up your track.” Bohemian,” he smiles.

“It also makes getting gigs easier,” Not heard Shadowclub before? says Klawansky.“Venue owners suddenly think you’re popular and give you a slot when before they wouldn’t even bat an eyelid.”

They laugh as Moolman points out that one of the downsides of their newfound popularity is that “suddenly even random acquaintances seem to have become our best friends”. “[Popularity]isn’t going to influence our writing style though,” interjects Roux. “Perhaps we’re popular because the timing is right. Indie culture has been redefining what’s popular. We’re not on radio because we write pop tracks, but because the collective ear is changing. The Black Keys, won five Grammys, that wouldn’t have happened five years ago.”

Moolman attributes the bands new sense of cohesion to being “pretty supportive of each other. We talk about

hese artists provide such three favourite music makers to look innovative creature South Africa has damn good information, I out for. Matthew Fink, one part of The seen this side of a sequin and peanut feel like not devoting a Black Hotels and one of the butter samie. Welcome Space Cadet!whole article to each one is originators of cool if you know Last but not least are The Coals akin to licking the dots off a anything of Durban back when it was Of Juniper who give us their 5 cents ladybug; you realise you like L.A. on Astros and The Station on what's up right now whilst winding kinda want to eat the whole night club was thumping. up reminding me of that nursery

thing. Anyway, here are my current Witchboy is probably the most rhyme, Winkin, Blinkin and Nod...

muse | twenty two

FEATUREBy Eliza DayWitchboy photo by Jenna Bass

Matthew Fink photoby Hayley Poultney

Coals of Juniper photo by Nikki Rich

T

Try Fidelity?Biting off all I can chew and choosing a few with what is making my ears prick up in the SA music scene.

WitchboyI’m kind of in to the whole aesthetic of So you're releasing a thing and trying to picture what a Hollymode this year. sound would look like if it was a room What IS that?or place or person etc. What does Well, Hollymode is a Witchboy's sound look like in this theme album. It's a retro context? concept which lent Since is probably coming itself to the more out first I'll describe its room... expansive prog rock

The Room was as big as the world. albums and one which In a corner were three tables with three hasn't been in vogue chairs each. The blackness around lately because albums them carried with it all the momentum had been getting all of drawn stage curtains. Marylin 'smal l i f ied ' to sui t glanced at her Mickey Mouse watch. commercial viability. Three hundred years had passed since Of course all that's Marylin had tabled this Room world. It changed w i th the only took a minute to lay a floor. She internet and sites like shrugged the shoulders of her shine- bandcamp.com allow bright vinyl. one to go back to retro

“Room to breathe,” she thought in a futuristic way. out loud, tapping her wingtips above So with Hollymode music is live and free of BPM the scuffed linoleum. I a m g o i n g f o r t h e w h o l e constrictions. I thought this musical

But the sound went nowhere. It cartoonification of Hollywood in all its approach would suit the organic simply hovered about like an ominous sleazy, gory glory. I grew up (like all of kaleidoscopic intensity of my biblical vulture. She eyed the sentence as it you probably) watching cheap movies visions of an all encompassing mode resounded menacingly over the set in LA and felt that the reality in films which all of us are familiar with. A mode chipped formica tables. She had to like Repo Man and Terminator were in which remains mystical and magical restrain an urge to slap herself for many ways more real than the actual even though it is the cheapest form of speaking - fearful as she was of echoes. reality of Hollywood. lumo bubblegum that ever got stuck ‘This joint really needs some music,’ I felt that all this could be married under your leopard print spike heel.she thought. into a sort of Billy Wilder on crack

And even she didn’t know why the concept album. The result is a diverse What was the first album you ever shoulder pads on her suit were so big. array of songs sniping at movie bought/borrowed/stole?Her vinyl hair gleamed, but you couldn’t universes, false prophets selling I bought NWA's Straight Outta tell from where the light source shamballa to housewives, HP Lovecraft Compton in London when it was still originated. A chrome announcer’s rap, sex droid cyber-hop, futurist banned in SA. Then I made black-microphone on a vintage stand solved vestron video confessions, plastic market tapes and flooded the freak the sound problem. She cleared her candy doll gutted on neon beaches at circuit at school.throat and speaker systems relayed out sunset, zero-g parties in space stations, into space. Laura Palmer etc. I also wanted to try 4 favey faves right now?

break the mould with the music a bit These are my top 4 right now songs - :(Erm...that was amazing.) and in fact only three tracks involve Crave - Young

sequencing. Iggy Azalea - PussyThe rest is basically live electronics Nattymari - Strob3lit3

- even the drums are tapped out! So the Eternity Zone - Popshop

Hollymode

muse | twenty three

FEATUREMatthew Fink of The Black Hotels

Coals Of Juniper

Could you tell me a little bit What was the first album you about the early days of The ever bought/borrowed/stole?Station? It was a gift from a family I was barely 19. The Station had friend: Adam & The Ants Prince been open for 2 weeks when I Charming 7" (B/W Christian got chatting to club founder Dior)and legendary Durban DJ, Richard Every. He asked if I The Black Hotels have recently would spin some records for a brought out your well received few minutes while he went to new album, Honey Badger. Tell the bar. He returned 2 hours us a bit about where you were later and I had myself a going with this one.residency for the rest of the With Honey Badger we made a clubs existence. The patrons conscious decision to create a were an eclectic mix of new sound within the band. For Durban's underground youth my part I ditched the vintage having way too much of a good Fender Rhodes & Hammond time. organ tones for harder driving

synthesizers.Best moments: To a degree the album Any time that Live Jimi Presley takes influence from music we w e r e i n t o w n f o r a were listening to at the time of performance. writing and recording.

While Honey Badger Epic fail moment: sounds nothing like The Accidently setting the DJ box National, Arcade Fire, XX, LCD alight and damaging all the Soundsystem or Interpol, I'm e q u i p m e n t w i t h a f i r e sure that the then current extinguisher. albums by those artists were a

subconscious creative catalyst.

I’m kind of in to the whole aesthetic of a thing and trying to picture what a sound would look like if it was a room or place or person etc. What does the Coals Of Juniper sound look like in this context?Jono: Ha-ha! This is going to get strange! We mostly look like two Indians and a White guy. Kidding, kind of. I think our sound doesn’t hold its form for too long, it’s continually transforming or morphing into its next shape. We like to think it transports you.Joel: Like think of a 60’s muscle car being driven in the scorching desert by you, now rain is tapping at your window, then you’re in a thunderous storm, now suddenly a calm landscape.Jude: And every colour swirls in strange unison as a fat lady becomes weightless and jumps in slow-mo on What was the first album you ever 4 favey faves right now?the moon eating an ice-cream. bought/borrowed/stole? (Discussion and arguing ensues)Jono: Then its coffee machines and Jono: Tree’s Overflow, on cassette Jono: Okay, here it is. R. Kelly, Kesha, washing machines, bashed down doors tape. Yes, before they became Tree63. Beyonce, 50 Cent. and fists in the air. And maybe imagine Joel: House Anthems Vol. 2. It was long Joel: He’s just joking. Seriouslysinging too, because we don’t. And ago! Jude: Here’s the real list: Radiohead, then maybe you wake up and come Jude: Keith J. He was a local Indian Soundgarden, Hiromi Uehara, and back to reality. rapper I think… Isochronous.

muse | twenty four

FEATUREBy Mary HoneychildPhoto by Chris Decato Bombino Bombino

The Singing Survivor The Singing Survivor

“I have experienced in my life many problems

because of politics and my community too.”

B

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ombino is a soul gripping the face of his own circumstance, through they loved so much, and how one day they vocalist and guitar playing music. The turn of 2010 saw the end of the would all be back.musician. His spirit, passion fighting in Tuareg; celebrated through a and love for his roots carry grand concert by Bombino and his him through his career like percussionist Serge. Bombino laughs, “When I played with the the magic carpet ride over

Rolling Stones I did not know who they the desert in the fairytale that

were, I just understood that they are great has now become his life. His

He sings in his traditional languages and when I saw their cars! I think I realised then story started in 1980 in

neither feels the need or pressures himself who they were. We recorded the song Hey Tidene, Niger a Tuareg

to start singing in English – insisting that no Negritude and it was a great experience.”encampment just outside of Agadez in

vital part of the story gets lost on Bombino is certainly an ambassador Africa.

whomever it’s intended for. for subtle boldness in storytelling for his During the 1990’s due to the

“You see we are playing this music to peop le and rema ins humbly, a community backbone breaking rebellion

discover our culture and our language. representation of the true peace that in Tuareg, Bombino and his family were

What we do is translate the meaning of the dominates Agadez. He manages his forced to flee to neighbouring Algeria for

songs during our concerts, this way others lifestyle and career with a forward thinking safety. Throughout his years in exile he

can also understand and it embraces and forgiving outlook on what it means to continued to nurture deep within himself

everybody,” he affirms. be alive.the stories of Agadez and held a mission in

Agadez is a homeland of nomadic the depths of his soul to tell his country’s

people who herd camels, goats and stories. In 1997 he returned home and

sheep. However, as simplified as their pursued a career in doing exactly that; all

existence may be - they still always the while continuing to face adversity and “The desert has something special; there remember why and ‘how-to’ fight fiercely struggle. The phases of rebellion only but is a saying in Tuareg: ‘If the water washes in the name of the continued existence of went through waves of calmness, then the body the desert washes the spirit’. This their culture and heritage. This is definitely eruption. magical place gives peace, freedom and something we can look upon as a telling

silence to its people. When you come to anecdote for our own lives.the desert it cleans all your problems you may keep in your spirit. And, even the taste “I have experienced in my life many Watch a short video of an intimate of meat cooked in the desert with the same problems because of politics and my concert Bombino held in Agadez @ vegetables and cereals as in the town is community too. I learned a lot playing with museonline.co.za or scan this tag to very different; it is so good to eat it. You political musical groups. So it is related to watch on your smartphone. will feel free, really, when in the desert. It my life. I’m not interested personally in gives comfort because you will have a big politics. I just speak from my own space only for you with billions of stars,” experience and the effect it has on my he explains.community. Politics is a big part of this so it

is integrated in my life. The messages in my music are very important to me,” says Bombino.

He is without a doubt a man who has This melodic piece written during his exile

experienced loss and pain in ways that in Burkina Faso in 2008, speaks about the

have become almost classical in the story unity of his community and the hardships

of a war torn third world Africa. He has in encountered during the war. He sings of

the same way risen above what was the insecurity of the people and the heart

prescribed to him as destiny and changed wrenching need to run away from the land

The Rolling Stones Project

The pressure to sing in English…

What you may not know about the desert

The Politics

About the beautiful song Assalam Felawan

muse | twenty five

FEATUREBy Craig Wilson

Chris Letcher

S

London-based composer, academic, and multi-instrumentalist Chris Letcher is no stranger to SA music fans. From his days with Urban Creep to his work with

Matthew van der Want, Letcher has a reputation for innovative compositions and genre-bending albums.

His latest, Spectroscope, is out this month and we spoke to him from London about it, justifying glockenspiels, and why he’s not an ‘adult contemporary’ artist.

music around that does that”.Being London-based, Chris is

spoilt for choice when it comes to seeing live acts. I ask him who most inspires him at the moment? “I saw

pectroscope sounds far that was a mammoth job: there were Sufjan Stevens’ most recent tour which more energetic and rock- hundreds of unruly tracks to tame. He was amazing: insane and really infused than Letcher’s did well. I hope he didn't find it too thrilling. I also heard Kevin Volans' new debut, Frieze. I ask him if traumatic a process.” piano concerto at a prom the other day, this was simply the way Spectroscope traverses a vast and that was ridiculously exciting with the songs developed, a amount of ground in terms of genre, its thundering, huge bass drum rolls deliberate decision, the arrangements, and time signatures. As and dazzling piano/strings/ xylophone result of recent influences, a composer I wonder if Letcher is more writing. The whole thing really was just o r s o m e t h i n g e l s e easily bored than other musicians. perfect.”ent i re ly? “The rock- “I suppose I want to explore new Despite the fear that it might be like

influenced side comes from working ideas rather than just recycle and make asking a parent to choose a favourite with the band and regular rehearsals – something that's distinctive and can child, I ask Letcher what his favourite knowing you have to bring something stand up to a few listens.” track on Spectroscope is and why? “My new to play in the practice studio so the “It’s not about being tricky for the favourite part is the last third of The old tunes don’t get stale.” sake of it, though,” he adds. “The first Loneliest Air. The way all the rhythms

Talking about the title, Letcher says song on the record [The Sun! The Sun!] build up and cross. I also like the it’s a metaphor for the album as a sort of for example, is in 7/4 but the point is for weirder structured-ones at the moment spectrum where each song seems as it to be a rocking groove despite that. – the fragment structure of You Only though it has a different, unique, band It's a funny asymmetrical beat but it Had To Point with all the crossing lines, behind it. “There are also a lot of light rocks hard, in a fun way, it’s like an off- and the way the melody returns at the and sun metaphors on the album,” he kilter We Will Rock You. Arrangement- end of One Died – It always feels like a says.“I’m not actually sure it's the right wise, I consciously tried to extend the massive release after the key-less title, but titles are hard to get right.” palette but in a way that didn't feel pounding.”

The album was produced by Finn gratuitous. If you're going to put a With more than 20 years of Eiles, the producer behind albums from glockenspiel on that melody you need a experience making music, I suggest he the likes of Razorlight and the pretty damn good reason,” he laughs. offers a single sentence of advice to legendary My Bloody Valentine. I asked It seems to me that Letcher makes aspirant musicians. “Just try, and keep Letcher how he came to work with pop and rock music for adults, that is, going, make music carefully and Eiles. music with a degree of sophistication thoughtfully but let in the random and

“Finn was one of the recording often absent from contemporary explosive, and look for a voice that's engineers suggested to us by the music. Letcher pretends to gasp, “Oh just yours,” he offers. He reflects on studio we were working in. We initially no, boring adult contemporary – it's this, and before we sign off adds, “It just did the drum, bass and guitar tracks come to this!” He laughs before adding, sounds like I'm trying to convince with him but I liked the way he worked “I would like to make music that you myself!”and he seemed to suit the music so we feel but can also think about; and it has asked him to mix the record as well – to be fun too. I think there is a lot of

muse | twenty six

MUSIC NEWS Inside

The recent Loerie’s EMI Battle Of The Bands, gave away a recording contract to the value of 40 000 – an elephantine amount unseen by musicians not in advertising (compare it to

the Frown video budget below). Still, Johannesburg who took the crown, are worth the cash.

The Privates International Band

Apart from The Loerie’s, there’s an ongoing interest in music from the advertising industry. Like Heuwels-and-Locnville-sounding sextet . Their first single Say it Better echoes the words of ad guru Luke Sullivan: “First say it great, then say it straight”. And their name itself implies the Twitter protocol but the band insists “it’s not just a cheap way of getting into the minds of the social network obsessed youth market.”

140

MK has awarded R 60,000 to to make a video for their track The National out before the end of the year. A-making-of, shot by Joburg party monster/photographer Justin McGee, will be posted online. The band also promise “remixes by SA’s finest underground DJ’s and musicians.” In addition, The Frown are doing a one night only Opera – set to be out in late November, in association with Hell Records and The Alexander Theatre. They’re keeping mum about details, but said: “it will be a collaborative multi-media dark arts monster.” http://www.facebook.com/#!/thefrownmusic

plan to release a double single. “We’re still busy recording but its gonna blow minds bruv” says front man Scottie. “It’s a fresh new rock sound, a lot more mature and not as frantic, it still sounds like us but more defined.” Also, bassist Jono Templer had a kid and has been replaced by Mancunian, Liam McDevitt. “He’s solid and brings a new energy to our live show.” Scottie concluded, “we also want to tour the country nonstop next year” The first single will likely be We Are Here. http://www.facebook.com/#!/ReburnCT

are working on a new album. There are rumoured to be leftover tracks from the Gordon Raphael produced Shark. Also, guitarist, Arjuna Kohlstock posted online: “I’m thinking of changing my name. Which is better, Ramazuki, Flamegrill or Jethro?” We reckon Arjuna Ranatunga – that’ll make for some fun during rehearsal cricket games. www.theplasticsband.com

have completed an eight track album or in their words: “agt fokken lank hondjags tracks!”. Recorded in 5 days at Bloo Room Studio in Ladismith. Producer Jo Ellis employed the most primitive methods in an effort to capture the Apes’ chest thump live sound. The whole concept and design is still being finalised but “it’s coming and it’s going to be huge”. When asked about a possible tour the band answered “Ja ,to the ends of the earth buddy.” The Apes are also planning the most “befokste” Halloween party featuring machineri, Basson Loubscher, Dead Lucky, their new favourite band, and the chairman of the board Sailor Jerry. If you want to know if the Great Apes will be appearing at HorrorFest, see the next page. www.thegreatapes.co.za

The Frown

Reburn

The Plastics

The Great Apes

We Set Sail We Set Sail are almost done with Something Bout The Moon a new seven track album. “It’s been long awaited, we have had some bad luck on our side, Trinity was in a hit and run car accident” says bassist Thee Patrick. “She is fully recovered now. That’s given us and the CoffeeStainedVinyl Studio crew more time to work on the finer details”. Produced by the band, Teejay Terblanche, and mastered by Troy Glessner from Spectre in Seattle USA, the album is set to be released this summer. “We are planning on adding a few extra sounds to the album, which may include some extra instruments” concluded Patrick. “I’m not going to say too much; let’s keep that a surprise.”https://www.facebook.com/wesetsailcapetown

The Great Apes

Terminatryx’s

Makabra Ensemble

The Cape Music Industry’s

Remyx v 1.0 global remix album is being released in November (see review on Pg.35). Paul Blom has stated “we'll do a live launch, being streamed globally on-line from Sound & Motion Studios, Cape Town.” Find dates and updated info at www.terminatryx.com/remix. The bonus track Maciste Descends accompanies a scene in HorrorFest where a lead character is tricked by demons and sent to hell. Of the 2011 HorrorFest Paul mused “we wanted to diversify as widely as possible to include all media.” The annual fest incorporates music by creating original soundtracks to silent horror movies. Performed live to

the screen by – the Terminatryx-driven collaborative project. This year will debut a new soundtrack to a 1920 version of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde. “All of these movies with their new soundtracks will be released on DVD in the future.” Paul concluded: “We're looking into doing a HorrorFest after party, and will let you know if we're able to slot The Great Apes in or not.”HorrorFest happens 30 October 9pm at The Labia Theatre, Cape Town. For more info www.horrorfest.info or www.terminatryx.com/makabra

latest research shows writing and recording film music in our own country, instead of exporting it, could be an opportunity for musicians and audio engineers in Cape Town to grow their space in the industry, greatly. The company is working on several ways to involve more local music in film. Most recently, they brought over Trevor Jones , award winning composer of Last of the Mohicans, GI Jane and Notting Hill fame. www.capemic.coza

MP and are starting an NGO called – aiming to give underprivileged musicians greater access and understanding to industry. They have some serious struggle credentials. Dexter’s band in the 80’s were accused of fraternizing with communists, during his 7 year exile he entered politics. And Palm’s band Retreats, wrote a protest song, Vote In Vain, before the 1999 elections. “There are plans to purchase land and build a studio. Our goal is to make it self-sustaining” said Palm. “At the launch we had several politicians to see what we were up to.”Arno Carstens and Beezy Bailey were also in attendance. “We’re at an embryonic phase. We’ve signed two promising hip-hop artists, and an amazing acoustic rock artists whose both Muslim and proudly gay” added Palm enthusiastically. “We have the specs. Our focus is on training artists with contracts, online, marketing and playing live – that’s how they make most of their money and how you get to know them personally. We don’t want to make products, we want to amplify their abilities, so they can stand on their own two feet.” Palm shows a real admiration for Motown, and Sub Pop as models, citing their sense of community. Rumour has it low-end estimates are R 350 000 – cabling alone is guessed at R 10 000. Palm concluded: “Musicians are more powerful politicians than they realise”.

Gauteng post-rockers are currently drawing animals on lapel buttons and t-shirts for the launch of their second album. There is quite a bit of talk in several savvy circles about them and rumour has them to be on Vice Magazine’s hit list.

Mapumba, DRC Afro pop guitarist:“Simphiwe Dana: A soulful singer with a somewhat melancholic edge. It’s like taking a Bob Marley and the Wailers’ early recordings and smearing it on some South African deeply traditional sounds – so catchy you just want to hear it again.Listen to: Mayine, Ndimi Nawe and, my personal favourite, Ndiredi.”

Kevin Rule, metal guru (rumoured to have bought the Devil’s soul):“Devil Sold His Soul: Crushing, dark, atmospheric, poignant, and utterly enthralling. A combination of devastating force and haunting melody that’s hypnotic and moving. In six years, the band have inspired a devoted following in the UK underground, touring relentlessly and exercising an extreme level of quality control over their musical output, every release maintaining their signature sound while marking a profound leap forward from anything before. http://www.devilsoldhissoul.com/

Philip Dexter Roscoe Palm The Indibano Foundation

The Makeovers

Looking for new bands? Selections from musicians

muse | twenty seven

MUSIC NEWS

with Johann M Smiththe machine

Simphiwe Dana

http://www.wildandmarr.co.za

by Mickdotcom

muse | thirty

LEGENDS OF MODERN MUSIC "He was the best singer that had appeared, probably, I'm not being too liberal about this if I say, in

two decades". Jimmy PageJEFF BUCKLEY and the stirring Beyond

J eff Buckley is part of the Buckley, who had passed away at the age song, perhaps preambling with an Spirit World of music. of 28, leaving behind an uneven but anecdote, without raising his voice above Along with a small, esoteric esteemed collection of Folk, Rock and the general chit-chat sound tracking the group of misfits and oracles more avant-garde musics. venue. Then he would strum into t h a t i n c l u d e R o b e r t By the time of Buckley's residency at wonderment. Johnson, Nick Drake, Billie Manhattan's Sin-e', word was not so much Anyone who has experienced his Holiday and Jimi Hendrix, getting round as spreading like wildfire. renditions of Simone's Strange Fruit or he seemed to have been The likes of Robert Plant, Chrissie Hynde Cohen's Hallelujah will experience shivers born with one foot already and Soundgarden's Chris Cornell attended as they read these words.

rooted in the Beyond. Already navigating his shows, and began championing the Nearly two decades later, in a worlds shimmering beyond physics. phenomenon U2's The Edge described as quantumly different world, he still inspires

Buckley possessed a chameleonic "A pure drop in an ocean of noise". awe. John Legend: "I think I can sing with voice able to harness such singular and Says Cornell: "People talked about his just about anybody; but he's one of the few potent energies as Nina Simone, Edith Piaf concerts the way they used to talk about singers who truly intimidate me."and Nusrat Fateh Ali Kan, so disarmingly Hendrix. They'd sit there, wide-eyed, that audiences could not but be swept up telling you stories about him. He definitely in invocation. This wasn't mimicking - this had an aura."was channeling. An otherworldly charge seemed present, lifting and harmonising A Swan to Singhis voice - kindling Fire from the

The grapevine electricity led to his debut hinterscapes of memory and experience.

studio album - the near unanimously Many will tell you this 'otherworldly

acclaimed Grace [1994] - David Bowie charge' was in fact located in his vocal

naming it one of his ten desert-island chords.

albums. Buckley assembled a touring band and hit the road for two years - a tour

Dream Brother that had Led Zep's Jimmy Page gush, "he Born on 17 November 1966, Buckley was was the best singer that had appeared, raised Scotty Moorhead, only meeting his probably, I'm not being too liberal about biological father, acclaimed folk artist Tim this if I say, in two decades". Buckley, once, at the age of eight. By his Following the tour the band began own account his childhood was one of laying down recordings for 2nd album "rootless trailer trash", but steeped in Mystery White Boy. The album would music. His mother was a classically trained never be released. On 29 May 1997, his cellist, and step-father Ron introduced him band was en route to Tennessee for re-to the key 70's Rock and folk groups. He recordings. By the time their flight had later recalled that everyone in his family landed, Jeff Buckley was gone - drowned sang, and that he'd stumbled onto his first during an impromptu night swim in the guitar in his Gran's closet. Mississippi river; caught in the wake of a

A voracious, near promiscuous thirst passing boat. He was thirty.for music led him to adore such wide-ranging, seemingly irreconcilable groups The Busker Transformativeas kitsch rockers Kiss; hardcore Punk outfit

To experience a song by Buckley is to be Bad Brains; Bob Dylan; Nusrat Fateh Ali

seduced. Whether live or studio-cut, an Khan; and Nina Simone. Earning his chops

original song or an interpretation, a through playing guitar in a variety of Punk,

Buckley performance inevitably moves Rock and Funk bands, Buckley found his

one - draws or wrenches one into an often calling through solo performances, where

intense, always touching journey.he was free to pounce between genres and

Buckley's live appearances at sentiments.

Manhattan club Sin-e' have become the His public singing debut and first

stuff of legend. Armed with a lone electric major break came through a guest

guitar, Buckley would casually announce a performance at a tribute concert for Tim

http://www.ase.co.za

by Mickdotcom

muse | thirty two

CLASSIC ALBUMS

I Joe's GarageZappa. 'll never forget the first time I

heard the music of that Comic Rock guy Frank Zappa. At the time I was shoulder-deep in garage band bliss ('Wiener Type Person' thank you very much, in case you hadn't heard of us), and eagerly plowing through the Rock

Canon of years yonder. For some reason I'd always skipped

the opportunity to listen to Zappa's stuff. Look, the guy had an enviable moustache -thingie going and it was kinda cool that they'd named a flammable liqueur after him (Okay I'd assumed it was named after him, and I was a kid okay - Zappa S a m b u c a w a s T h e S h i t ; m o r e importantly, chicks loved seeing it drop down your gullet all saccharine fire), but he did look a bit like Weird Al Yankovic, which kinda sucked. Then my best-buddy-in-the-world-at-the-time played us some songs after rehearsal. Two-and-a-half songs at the back-end of a cassette otherwise consisting of Mudhoney and early Soundgarden.

The first song [Peaches en Regalia - Hot Rats] should have been uncool - kinda Circus-music-played-on-tinny-Classical-instrumentsy - but something about the curious twists in the composition perked my young ears. The second track was more of a song a-proper. A funny tune about some Eskimo kid taking revenge on a seal hunter [Don't Eat The Yellow Snow - palette ranging from 50's Doo-Wop and selling your soul.Apostrophe]. The song made us giggle Rhythm & Blues to the avant-garde Instrumentally Joe's Garage teems (and frown - "Is Rock music Allowed to be experiments of composers like Stravinsky with wonder - From the impossible time-funny?") And then - out of the blue - a blind and Varese', Zappa concocted a signatures of Keep it Greasy to the off-barrage of solo guitar, about three heterogeneous signature that is instantly kilter Rock splendour of Why Does It Hurt seconds long. Our jaws dropped. We recognisable despite the wild diversity of When I Pee?; from mutant Funk and rewound. Our jaws dropped again. I was his compositions. Venusian Jazz to the melancholic, never quite the same.

grandiose eloquence of guitar solos on A year later I owned around a dozen He Used To Cut The Grass; On the Bus and

Zappa albums, and my Grunge and Rock Watermelon In Easter Hay (the latter one Joe's Garage, his 1979 concept-album, is collection was mysteriously being of the most affecting pieces ever a musical tour-de-force. It explores a replaced by experimental Jazz and WARP executed on six strings). dystopian future where music and other Electronica.

A great introduction into the perversions like free thought and

quantum sonics of one of the 20th sensuality have been banned because,

century's greatest composers; and one of well, they disrupt the efficiency of the

humankind's most fierce and eloquent Nowadays - aside from the handful of carefully groomed workforce (otherwise de fenders o f f r ee speech and annual Zappa fests - most of his music is known as society). The album's narrative individualism.performed by internationally acclaimed follows a by now familiar Orwellian arc:

Classical ensembles. A 4-metre high bust Naive hero Joe shrugs off Society's of the man overlooks a park somewhere prescriptions and, instead of joining the in post-Communist Lithuania. Following grotesquely bland assembly-line on offer, Zappa's death in 1993, American vice starts a band and tries to get a girlfriend. president Al Gore (of An Inconvenient Oops.Truth fame) sent a letter of commiseration Zappa being Zappa, the superficially to his wife Gail. Quite the hullabaloo for a formulaic storyline careens and swells to man most remember as a 70's Rock explore and poke fun at such phenomena musician who wrote funny and crude as Scientology; the intrinsic contradiction novelty songs. of music journalism; the abject nature of

Sculpting around 70 albums over the Wet T-shirt contests; the melodramatic course of a 28-year career, Zappa's music highs and lows of starting a band; is inexhaustibly diverse, and unmatched pornographic robots; and the evils of for sheer originality. Informed by a wacky

Don't You Boys Know Any Nice Songs?

Lyrics Exist For Those Who Need Them

http://www.guitartone.co.za

In the time since their last album, Stadium Arcadium, the Chili Peppers’ maverick guitarist and song-smith, John Frusciante waved goodbye and was replaced by Josh Klinghoffer, while bassist, Flea, studied music theory. I’m With You is a mixed bag of competent but tired funk grooves occasionally interrupted by interesting stylistic departures. Frusciante’s absence is felt in some patchy song structures and a lack of substantial hooks. Opening track,

Monarchy of Roses is a building ominous tom-beat, fuzz guitar dirge, periodically interrupted by a ridiculous disco-funk chorus, ruining the building sense of excitement. Klinghoffer does a mean Frusciante guitar impression when needed but also brings a more textured approach as heard on stand out track Police Station. Keidis, as usual, lets the team down, as on Factory of Faith, yet another disco workout, where he literally sounds like Baby Cakes, the Brad Neely created web-cartoon man-child. A highlight is Brendon’s Death Song, one of the only songs where everyone, including Keidis, seems focused and coherent, as it builds to anthemic proportions. I’m with You is another overly loud, over-compressed comeback album (remember Californication). It is not an instant classic but it does surprise on occasion and shows hints of what this legendary band was.

On Black & White America, Kravitz explores race issues to the happy bubblegum disco-funk sounds of his childhood. While Kravitz (who wears his influences liberally on his sleeve) has always sounded very retro, he has never before immersed himself in the sounds of one era so singularly and to the point of caricature as here. Horn and gang vocal stabs pepper the unashamedly cartoonish 70’s funk of the title track, in which Kravitz recounts the interracial marriage of his parents and the racial hostility they endured from others. Liquid Jesus sounds like early Michael Jackson with lyrics as creepy as latter day Jackson (‘Liquid Jesus wash me over/Wash me down’). Whether this musical stereotyping is there to offset the weighty topics is unclear, but, even as Kravitz remains transcendently hopeful throughout, the effect is sadly comical. On the ridiculously titled Boongie Drop we are subjected to an equally ridiculous rap by Jay Z as DJ Military brings us firmly back into the 21st century. There are no obvious standout tracks and I get the sense that he is in a happy space in his life and with this album is more concerned with painting a picture with the sounds of his early childhood than setting the mainstream music world on fire with retro-inspired hits. Definitely one for serious fans only.

When lead vocalist, Jeremy de Tolly, was interviewed by Muse Magazine he intimated that fans would be in for a surprise when Lost In the Fall dropped. He wasn’t lying. As a first test I played this, their 3rd album, to several knowledgeable SA music fans to a) see their reaction but b) – and of more interest to me – to see if they recognised who the artist is. Nobody could guess upfront - it took a few listens to various tracks for the bewildered sort of half guess-not-too-sure suggestion of “is

this the new Skirts album?” So what does it sound like? Heavier! From the opening chords of Rebellion the statement of intent is one of a heavier, more complex sound. Let’s face it; the Skirts were our very own Indie poster boys for a while. Unfortunately all the influences they seemed to draw on when they burst onto the scene were already going out of vogue, so what to do? Go back to the drawing board and re-create your sound? A bold step for any band but one that sees them come out of it with something far meatier, far more layered and meaningful – a sound they can now call their own although distinctive influences (Radiohead specifically) do shine through from time to time. Witness We’re All Gonna Die, a kind of Guns and Roses’ish type vocal delivery or You Are The Machine a detuned ode to how our minds are controlled. But it’s not all on the heavy side; there’s still a hint of familiarity on tracks like Evil Comes - a clear contender for a radio single with its upbeat happy chords and strong radio-friendly hook – but even here de Tolly manages to add a really interesting twist to his delivery on the chorus. Lost In The Fall is better than anything the band has done before, in my opinion, and I think other SA music critics may agree. Now let’s hope the fans like their new sound!

My first encounter with Arcade Fire this is. I relegated them to the sonic cataract of so many cleverly/arb-named Alternative/Modern Rock outfits circa, well, the latter 90’s up till now. I'm glad to admit I've been superficial in my rejection of bands who seemed all hype, glossy cover and nil content. Arcade Fire's The Suburbs, their third, turns out to be a solemn sprawl of beauty. And a sprawl it is - a 16 track epic, the album is a throwback to an earlier age; in more senses than one. A cohesive, if meandering, whole rather than a collection of songs which just happen to be released together, The Suburbs is a stirring evocation of a very specific reality. What it so uncannily captures is the urban biome of 80's/90's suburbia; specifically as experienced by young, not-quite adults hungry to escape the polite hell of picket fences and lost, well-intending parents. The melancholic stir of possibility hinted at by empty Sunday breezes; the buzz of heading out to a live gig with your mates; the hungry promise of the open road. Already rewarding on first listen, The Suburbs promises as-yet-unheard beauty awaiting revisitation.

Every so often a murmur starts and then turns into a low rumble, eventually becoming a collective buzz of excitement when a band begins to make its mark in the music showplace called live gigs. This buzz usually begins with tastemakers and music journos looking out for something new and original, or at the very least an artist or band that smacks of originality, creativity and sincerity. machineri is one such band that has had this buzz a-going ever since their first gigs. Their stripped down bluesy rumble fronted by the sexy (and reportedly very moody) Sannie Fox, and accompanied by the disheveled appearance of Andre Geldenhuys captured the imaginations of many a rock ‘n roll chin-stroker in Cape Town. Attendance at their shows has grown as has their reputation culminating in this, their self-titled debut album. machineri – the album – consists of 11 tracks and I should imagine will hold little surprise to ardent followers of their gigs. Two things struck me about the album though; Sannie’s vocal timing tends to meander across music bars quite effortlessly, which can take some getting used to on the first few listens, and her vocal range is also quite limited which is a little unfortunate since this stripped down blues-rock (I’m thinking Jake White or Robert Plant who do it so well) really needs very strong and diverse singing to carry the songs. Nitpicking aside I really, really like machineri and have found myself intrigued by the album which simply gets better with each listen.

muse | thirty four

ALBUM REVIEWS

1. THE DIRTY SKIRTS – LOST IN THE FALL <EDITORS CHOICE>

3. RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS - I'M WITH YOU

4. LENNY KRAVITZ - BLACK & WHITE

5. ARCADE FIRE - THE SUBURBS

3/5|DM

3/5|NR2/5|NR

4/5|MD

4/5|DM

2. machineri

1 = Weak | 2 = Okay | 3 = Pretty Cool | 4 = Rocking | 5 = Demi-God!

DM – Dave Mac | MD – Mickdotcom | DA – Damien Albetto | JM - James Rose-Mathew | NR – Nic Roos | PB – Paul Blom

Get the free mobile app for your phone

http:/ /gettag.mobi

Hellbilly Deluxe II is the sequel to Zombie’s 1998 multi-platinum solo debut and sees a stylistic return to that album’s shock-rock industrial stomp. Featuring his all-star touring line-up, John 5 (Ex-Marilyn Manson) on guitar, Piggy D on bass and Joey Jordison (Slipknot, Murderdolls) on drums, the album shows a return to form for Zombie as it unfolds with a dark B-movie sense of fun. John 5’s presence is felt strongly throughout, who injects Zombie’s classic guitar grind with some frenetic flare as on Devil's Hole Girls and the Big Revolution and Werewolf Women of the SS, named after the faux trailer Zombie directed for Grindhouse, which including a tongue in cheek surf-rock solo by John 5. Listen to Virgin Witch. It contains a catchy riff unintentionally lifted wholesale from stoner-metal band The Sword’s Freya. Zombie nobly apologised to The Sword for his oversight. A bonus DVD features videos for Mars Needs Women and a live version of Alice Cooper’s School’s Out (featuring Cooper himself) as well as Transylvanian Transmissions, their 2010 tour ‘documentary’, directed by Zombie himself, that’s really just random home-movie tour footage with horror soundtrack. While there are no obvious hits among these 11 tracks it is by far his most consistent album to date.

This record has been three years in the making - a complete suite of remixes of the band's acclaimed eponymous debut - an ambitious project for any South African band, especially so in such a niche scene as the one that Terminatryx occupies. They've done an impressive job of pulling in a choice stable of acclaimed artists and intriguing guests, both international and local, to pick apart, destroy and resurrect their catalogue. The album bolts out of the gates with a quartet of head-crushing 4-to-the-floor numbers, each of them seemingly trying to pulverize the preceding track and leaving little room to breathe. iRONic then switches pace neatly with an effortless interpretation of Sleepwalkers that calls to mind Rob Zombie. From here on out the record charts a host of interesting territories, for the most part successful sonic adventures - an acoustic rendition, psytrance spinoff, electro and a rather mystical chill-out number by Mr Sakitumi. The only truly sour moment is NuL's somewhat insipid version of Up To You, completely ruined by a daft synth warble that ponders throughout. There are three bonus tunes of which only the cover of Animotion's Obsession I felt added value to the record. All in all a solid release - I recommend a listen to anyone not scared of surfing the intriguing fringe of South African music.

I read somewhere that The Rescu are a stadium rock band; that this is indeed the sound they are going for. It’s a somewhat bold attempt considering the opportunity to play a ‘stadium rock’ gig will be few and far between in South Africa. I’ve also heard (or read, I can’t remember) that they model their sound on U2. Anyway preconceptions aside, I’m not really hearing either. Yes the production on this, their debut album, is large and yes if I really, really tried I could probably hear some U2 guitar riffs circa 1980-something in here somewhere but really? U2? Stadium rock? It’s a bad M.O. for a band that should prefer to simply stand on their own two feet as a straight up rock band. ‘Cos that is what The Rescu are. A modern day rock band. Now if I’m to be critical, and let’s face it that’s what I am paid to do, then this self-titled album is a tale of two halves. The album starts of very promisingly with an upbeat rocker, Miracle, nice and fast and good hooks. In fact track two, Work Things Out, followed by I Did It For You and Refugee as well as ballad Sharpeville all have merit and kept me interested. But by track 6, Beautiful Life, one gets the feeling you’ve heard their repertoire. Not to say the rest of the songs are weaker; just that the same compositional tricks are being reused, if that makes sense? So, not a bad debut – and I suppose there is a post-modern U2’ish type rock sound going on – The Rescu should gain good radio airplay with their catchy modern adult rock sound.

NICE! Always nice (especially in today's fractured Information-overload hub) to encounter a new artist or group fully arrived - fluffing their tail feathers like they OWN it, coz, like, they Do. The lazy grin of roots Reggae and Dub-step informs 'WHO KILL's heart, but its numerous limbs unfurl hungrily into diverse sonics. Delicate pinches of retro-Soul croon and Billie Holiday mew (miao? Whatever - those tender, sparkly feminine vocalisations) are sprinkled like magic ingredients into the busy-body, polydextrous festival of their sound (a nod to their apt name). The unlikely harmony of snipped, tickled and brokenly related elements recalls the stubborn and gifted musicality of Gang Gang Dance, while their scruffily buoyant momentum evokes the sun-drenched naughtiness of The Avalanches. Damned if the band wasn't raised on a steady diet of the most audacious and brilliant of mixtapes. Whatever their intake, Tuneyards wield a gifted metabolism. Their exhalations - at least as evidenced on WHOKILL - betray a mastery at once giddy and snug. This is N-I-C-E reconfigured to spell Deliciousness.

For tons more album reviews go to www.museonline.co.za

Or read them on your phone here...

With the release of their previous album Primary Colours , produced by Portishead’s Geoff Barrow, The Horrors surprised and astounded critics who had cast them as faux-Goth posers. The album, clever and memorable, was steeped in an 80’s alternative aesthetic that spanned Shoegaze, Krautrock and Goth-pop. Skying is a slow building sonic haze that the band produced themselves and continues their love affair with 80’s Goth-rockers The Chameleons and 70’s kraut-rockers Neu! Opening track Changing The Rain is a wash of hazy synths and a skipping Madchester beat over which singer, Faris Badwan, croons dreamily and half-intelligibly. The dream continues with first single Still Life, another measured synth ballad that evolves slowly with expanding beauty into something quite anthemic. I cannot help but be reminded of Simple Minds. The album’s slow build pushes towards its centrepiece, Moving Further Away, a hypnotic krautrock brew that has Badwan chanting ‘Everybody moving further away/See you where the light ends’. It climbs ever higher to a Sonic Youth-like noise fest that ends suddenly and leaves one exhausted and smiling. While their influences are varied but obvious, The Horrors manage to combine them in a way that makes Skying an intoxicating sonic blur yet seemingly filled with purpose.

muse | thirty five

ALBUM REVIEWS6. TUNEYARDS - WHOKILL

8. THE RESCU

10. ROB ZOMBIE - HELLBILLY DELUXE II

4/5|MD

4/5|NR

9. TERMINATRYX – REMYX V1.0

4/5|JM

3/5|DA

4/5|NR

7. THE HORRORS - SKYING

PLAYSTATION MOVEWith all gaming systems venturing into getting people off the couch, freeing up the controls and placing the player inside its world, Move is PlayStation's addition to this new technology. Hitting the streets about a year ago, with

most new technology it takes a while to integrate and for developers to come up with truly exciting titles and not just your basic, obvious cartoon-like releases. Flowing from their revolutionary EyeToy camera developed during the PS2 era, the new PlayStation Eye combined with the Move motion control is key - the camera detecting the position of the control's light orb in 3D space and thus linking you to the game. This issue we’ll be including some games utilizing the Move controls.

muse | thirty six

GAME REVIEWSby Paul Blom

LittleBigPlanet 2

For more gaming reviews, check out www.flamedrop.com

Everyone has a bit of bloodlust inside them. Some more than others. With too many rules in boxing and not enough reality in pro wrestling, those who want to experience real life gladiators (without the killing)

settle for the Mixed Martial Arts of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. With these fighters in top shape, this title takes a step towards making it possible for gamers to discard pretending to beat up opponents in the gaming world, and dive into sculpting their own bodies, featuring around 70 approved exercises from the UFC and NASM (National Academy of Sports Medicine). Your BMI is calculated and this will determine calories burnt. Three real-life UFC trainers will take you through your paces, including Greg Jackson, Mark Dellagrotte and Javier Mendez, each with their specific regimes to follow. The kick and punch combos, floor-work and core exercises are dependent on the Move control which tracks your motion. (A holster is supplied to strap the control to your ankle for floor work). Categories you can target include strength building, weight cutting and endurance building and tackle a 60- or 90-day program to follow. This is more of a lifestyle accessory than a game.

The third chapter of this popular first person sci-fi action shooter series is Move compatible. Set four years after Resistance 2, the new lead Joseph Capelli (who was dishonorably discharged) is hiding out

with his wife and kid in Oklahoma, with one of the few surviving human resistance cells. The invading Chimera aliens have overrun the planet, but Dr. Malikov (the accidental creator of the hybrids) has a possible solution and Capelli has to travel to New York to help execute it (with a whole lot of intense fighting to be had).At your disposal you have a range of weapons, like the Bulls-eye (with tracking capability), your Magnum (with explosive detonation), and energy-draining grenades. When it comes to shooting (as with driving games), the realism of the PS controls are never accurate enough, so with the incorporation of the Move control you have far more shooting capabilities as you take aim for real (instead of trying to move your target cursor with a joystick) – even better if you get yourself a Move Battle Rifle to slot your Move control into. On top of this, Resistance 3 can be played in regular mode or in 3D (if you have the correct screen). The reach goes further with on-line 16-player battles and 2-player co-op missions.

[4.5/5]

[3/5]

UFC PERSONAL TRAINER - The Ultimate Fitness System

RESISTANCE 3

[3/5]

[4/5]

For those who don’t yet have Move controls, all games reviewed here (except UFC) can be played without it, but this one still depends solely on the joy-pad. With Halloween season, what better way to get into the

swing of things than with this 2nd video game chapter of the popular horror movie franchise. For third person survival horror junkies and fans of the movies, this grisly, dark and creepy game will certainly satisfy. Set between the first and second movies, you're in the unfortunate shoes of Michael (son of cop David Tapp from the first movie), trying to get to the bottom of his father's death. This dumps him in the Jigsaw Killer's sights. Clues and specific control combinations are hidden and hinted at throughout the game, as it kicks off where you wake up in a room, addressed by the TV puppet, needing to get out of a crushing head trap – the key sewn into your eye socket and a scalpel on the table... From here you're part of Jigsaw's meticulous game as you traverse your way through the decayed, dank and miserable building with its innovative and deadly traps. Naturally, this game has an 18 for violence, gore and language. Fans of the movie series will be glad to know that a DVD box set of the entire series is being released, and will feature at the HorrorFest late-October - www.horrorfest.info

And after all the more intense gaming titles, some more tranquil, relaxed and non-threatening all-ages fun will do. The craft-style cardboard, fabric and sticker world of Sackboy's LittleBigPlanet is a colourful,

texture filled platform universe of imagination, loaded with all the elements you'd expect from the genre and fun puzzle solving entertainment, all with a fantastic visual style. Here DaVinci and The Alliance saves Sackboy from the Negativitron, and with his Pod you control his travels to new levels. The producers make full use of the controls including the Sixaxis motion control, and in addition your character's physical abilities, emotional and personality expressions can also be displayed. And it goes a step further with the incorporation of the PlayStation Move controls for more immersion. What makes this so much more expansive is its ever-growing community of shared user-created content (which is pushing 4 million playable levels in the LBP2 community section). Check out www.LBP.me via your PlayStation Network. Downloadable content from the first game can also be used with this sequel. The makers plan to continue making new content available.

SAW II - Flesh & Blood

Tues 4 Oct | Afskopfantasties | NW @ Wed 12 Oct | Boo! | JHB @ Barnyard Senwespark - Cricket Stadium | Die Cresta | Boo! Featuring Chris Chameleon | Heuwels Fantasties; Alleen Na Desember; 20h00 | R135 | 011280 4370,

Every Tue | Acoustic Sessions | CPT @ Fokofpolisiekar; Ekhouvanjou,okay; The www.barnyardtheatres.co.zaZula Sound Bar | Every Tuesday is Acoustic Rebel Train Surfers; Oros in n lang glas, Sessions where CT’s new songwriters Die Tuindwergies; Winterstasie; Jack Thurs 13 Oct | Elvis Blue | JHB @ express themselves and perform next to Parow; Karen Zoid | 12h00 | R80 | Barnyard Cresta | Elvis Blue | 20h00 | R120 some of SA's greatest established and www.computicket.com | 011-280 4370, www.barnyardtheatres.co.za

experienced performers | 20h00 | Free| 021 424 2442, vusa@zulabar.co.za or Wed 5 Oct | Coldplay | CPT @ Cape Thurs 13 Oct | New Holland | CPTwww.zulabar.co.za Town Stadium | Coldplay | 20h00 | R265- @ Bohemia-Stellenbosch | New Holland |

R665 | www.computicket.com Free| 021-882 8375Every Thurs | Sunset Fireflies Jam Session | CPT @ Trinity Super Club | Wed 5 Oct | MK Sessies | NW @ Every Thursday Trinity hosts a Cape Town Senwespark Cricket Stadium | Ashtray Sat 15 Oct | Rocking The Daisies Songwriters open mic jam session | 20h00 | Electric; Bittereinder; The December Afterparty | CPT @ The Assembly | R30 | (021) 421 1367, Streets; Holiday Murray & Foto Na Dans | Ashtray Electric, New Holland, The Plastics, info@trinitycapetown.co.za or 12h00 | R80 | www.computicket.com Peachy Keen & more | 20h00 | Free for www.trinitycapetown.co.za RTD ticketholders, R30 for public |

Fri 7 Oct | Prime Circle | JHB @ The Lyric www.theassembly.co.zaEvery Fri | Live Acoustic Rock | CPT @ | Gold Reef City Casino | Prime Circle | Obviouzly Armchair | Live Acoustic Rock | 20h30 | R95-R125 | www.computicket.com Thurs 20 Oct | Rock Nights | PTA @ SA (021) 460 0458, State Theatre | Easy Tiger, Newtown, One www.obviouzlyarmchair.com Fri 7 Oct | The Parlotones | North West Day Remains | 20h00 | R60-R80 |

@ Senwespark - Cricket Stadium | The www.computicket.comEvery Sun | Sundays Unplugged | CPT @ Parlotones; Wrestlerish; The Blind Aandklas - Stellenbosch | Check out all the Watchmen; The Black Hotels & The Ice Sat 22 Oct | Prime Circle | JHB @ new and established acoustic artists that Project | 12h00 | R120 | www.computicket.com Barnyard Cresta | Prime Circle | 20h00 | will blow your mind! | 7pm | (021) 883 3545 R145 | www.barnyardtheatres.co.za

Fri 7-9 Oct | Rocking the Daisies 2011 | Sat 22 Oct | Spring Music Festival | JHBSat 1-2 Oct | Goodtimes in the Vines @ @ Cloof Wine Estate - Darling | Band of @ Krugersdorp High School | Aking, Bloemendal | CPT | Bloemendal Wine Skulls, Civil Twilight, Prime Circle, Just Graham Watkins Project, Dino Bravo, Estate | Come and enjoy f comedy, country Jinjer, aKING, The Arrows, Hot Water, Mr Estate Lonehill and Dans Dans Lisa | & rock of various artists | 11h00 Daily | Cat & the Jackal, The Rescu, Foto na 12h00 | R110 | www.computicket.comWeekend Pass @ R160, Sat @ R100 & Dans, Lark, Jack Parow and many more | Sun @ R80 | www.webtickets.co.za or Food Village, Traders Market, Wine Wed 26 Oct | Kings of Leon Live! | CPT

Tasting, Brutal Fruit Daisy Den, Art Field @ Cape Town Stadium | Kings of Leon | Sat 1 Oct | Last Train to Nashville | CPT and much more | Gates open @ 15h00 | 20h00 | R215-R750 | www.computicket.com @ Harley Davidson Club - Cape Town | Last R450 @ Webtickets or R550 @ The Gate | | Train to Nashville offers an all-out rockabilly 021 461 9822, www.rockingthedaisies.com Fri 28 Oct | Spring Fest | KZN @ Golden / country / blues event series for the Horse Casino | Lloyd Cele & Elvis Blue | summer season 2011 to 2012 | 21h00 | R60 Sat 8 Oct | Aardskuddend | North West This outdoor music event is a fusion of www.webtickets.co.za @ Senwespark - Cricket Stadium | music, couture fashion and urban energy |

Springbok Nude Girls; The Newspapers; 18h00 | R100 | www.computicket.comSat 1 Oct | Maritzburg Day | PMB @ Knave; Planet Joy; Crash Car Burn; Pietermaritzburg Botanical Gardens | Shadowclub; Zebra & Giraffe; Van Coke Sat 29 Oct | Kings of Leon Live! | JHB @ Parlotones, PLUSH, Jeremy Loops and Kartel & Frankie Fire | 12h00 | R100 | FNB Stadium | Kings of Leon | 19h00 | many more | Gates open @ 11h30 | R50- www.computicket.com R125-R590 | www.computicket.com | R160 | www.webtickets.co.za www.bigconcerts.co.za

Sat 8 Oct | Coldplay Live! | JHBSat 1 Oct | Ulterior Live in SA! | CPT @ @ FNB Stadium | Coldplay | 19h00 | Sun 30 Oct | Heather Mac | CPT @ The The Assembly | Ulterior (UK), The Wild R265-R665 | www.computicket.com Silver Tree Restaurant | Heather Mac | Eyes, The Frown & ShortStraw | 21h00 | 19h00 | R100 | R100 |www.theassembly.co.za Sat 8 Oct | T Party | DBN @ Unit 11 | The www.kirstenboschrestaurant.com

Mean Streets (Jhb), Lowprofile, Fruits & Sun 2 Oct | Andy Lund & The Mission Veggies, Black Math, The Trees and a Fri 4 Nov | Jesse Clegg - The Great Men | CPT @ The Silver Tree Restaurant | special captain forgottensuperhero guest | Escape | JHB @ The Lyric At Gold Reef Andy Lund & The Mission Men | 19h00 | R40 | 082 774 6528, www.unit11.co.za City Casino | Jesse Clegg | 21h00 | R135-R100 | www.kirstenboschrestaurant.com R161 | www.computicket.com

Wed 12 Oct | Bed on Bricks | CPT @ & Mon 3-4 Oct | Prime Circle | DBN @ Union | Bed on Bricks | Time & t.b.c. | 082 Sat 5 Nov | Johnny Clegg & Juluka | JHB Barnyard Theatre Gateway | Prime Circle | 775 9612 or www.andunion.com @ Emperors Palace | Johnny Clegg & 20h00 | R160 | 031566 3045, Juluka | 20h30 | R161-R263 | www.barnyardtheatre.co.za www.computicket.com

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Fri 11 Nov | Farryl Purkiss & Dan (021) 882 8375, Thurs 27 Oct | BluesTown SessionsPatlansky | CPT @ Durbanville Hills Wines info@bohemia.co.za or Fri 28 Oct | Bicycle Thief, Holiday Murray, - (M13) | Farryl Purkiss & Dan Patlansky | www.bohemia.co.za Jagermeister La Vi19h00 | R110 | www.webtickets.co.za BOKtober @ Bohemia - Freefor the Sat 29 Oct | Horror Hallowen | Bason

following gigs: Loubsher, Machineri, The Great Apes & Dead LuckySat 12-14 Nov | Tori Amos | JHB @

Thurs 6 Oct | No One's Arc & Lottery Emperors Palace | Tori Amos | Sat 12 Nov tickets 021 975 2566, @ 20h30 & Sun 13 Nov @ 15h00 | R390-Thurs 13 Oct | New Holland info@villapascal.co.za or R765 | www.computicket.comThurs 20 Oct | Zinkplaat www.villapascal.co.za Thurs 27 Oct | Ashtray Electric & Shadow Thurs 17 Nov | Rock Nights | PTA @ SA Club Sat 1 Oct | Saudiq Khan: Flamenco State Theatre | Son of a Thousand with

Rhythms | R90Spritz Boulevard and Nevame | 20h00 | (012) 345 3602, Fri 7-9 Oct | Daniele Pascal: A Night In R60-R80 | www.computicket.com

info@cafebarcelona.co.za or Paris | R100 www.cafebarcelona.co.za Fri 14-15 Oct | John Ellis: Come Out Thurs 17 Nov | Tori Amos | CPT @ Grand

Fighting | R70Arena - Grand West Casino | Tori Amos | Wed 5 Oct | John Ellis Fri 21 Oct | Lus | R9020h00 | R495-R695 | www.computicket.comThurs 6 Oct | Foto Na Dans + Green Apple Fri 4 Nov | Shey: Afro Latino | R60Fri 7 Oct | Willie Nelson Tribute Sat 5 Nov | Belly Dancing Fundraiser for Fri 25-27 Nov | Synergy Live Music Sat 8 Oct | Ekstra Dik Cart Horse Association | Early Bird until 24 Festival | CPT @ Boschendal Wine Estate Tues 11 Oct | Buckfever Underground Oct: R100 / Normal: R120- Franschhoek | Soak up the sun, relax, Wed 19 Oct | Between The Lines Fri 11 Nov | Latté Funk | 19h00 | R70 pitch a tent and rock out to a incredible Fri 14 Oct | Black Cat Bone Wed 16 Nov | Vernon Barnard: Summer collection of more than 80 celebrated local Fri 21 Oct | Lise Chris Rock | Early Bird until 2 Nov: R70 / Normal: and international bands, live acts and Sat 22 Oct | BOO R80comedians performing on 4 separate stages Wed 26 Oct | Nell Fri 18 Nov | Vernon Barnard: Summer Rock | Gates open @ 14h00 Fri 25 Nov & 08h00 Thurs 27 Oct | Lucy Lane |Early Bird until 2 Nov: R70 / Normal: R80Sat 26 Nov | Early Bird Full Weekend Pass: Fri 28 Oct | Jan Blohm Sat 19 Nov | Vernon Barnard: Summer R360 (outlet) / R385 (online); Sat & Sun Sat 29 Oct | Almost Halfway Rock | Early Bird until 2 Nov: R70 / Normal: Pass: R395 | www.webtickets.co.zaWed 2 Nov | Kevin Baker R80Fri 4 Nov | Klopjag Wed 23 Nov | Vernon Barnard: Summer Fri 25 Nov | The Kiffness | Plettenberg Thurs 10 Nov | Francois van Coke Rock | Early Bird until 2 Nov: R70 / Normal: Bay @ VIP Superclub | The Kiffness | R90-Fri 18 Nov | Blues Broers R80R120 | www.thekiffness.comSat 19 Nov | Java Sat 26 Nov | The Tomboys: Classic Rock | Fri 25 Nov | Valiant Swart Bday Bash + R90Sat 26 Nov | East Rand Rocks'11! | JHBguests Black Cat Bone Wed 30 Nov | Vernon Barnard: Summer @ Springs Old Boys’ Club | Flash Republic,

Rock | Early Bird until 2 Nov: R70 / Normal: Evolver 1, Offshore, Easy Tiger and lots (021) 979 R80more | 14h00 | R180 |

1911, 083 406 0111 or www.dieboer.comwww.webtickets.co.za

Wed 5 Oct | Rocking Horse | R80Sat 26 Nov | Table Mountain Blues Fri 6 Oct | Jennifer Zamudio | R80Summit | CPT @ Bloemendal Estate | Sat 7 Oct | Albert Frost & Rob Nagel | R80Boulevard Blues, Blues Broers and Albert Sun 8 Oct | Sarah Theron- Storm In A D-Frost, Natasha Meister, Dave Ferguson, cup | R80Richard Pryor's Pebbleman Project, Them Thurs 13 Oct | Homez Gomez | R60Tornadoes, Raoul and Black Friday, Gerald Fri 14 Oct | Koos Kombuis | R100Clark Trio, Black Cat Bone & Spaceman | Sat 15 Oct | Boulevard Blues Band & 13h00 | R180 | www.computicket.comFriends | R90Sun 16 Oct | Gerrie Pretorius | R70Sat 26 Nov | The Kiffness | Plettenberg Tues 18 Oct | Diamondback Blues Band | Bay @ Surf Cafe | The Kiffness | 22h00 | Cd Launch | R70www.thekiffness.com

Sun 27 Nov | aKing | CPT @ Kleinevalleij - mercury@mweb.co.za or Wellington | aKing | 17h00 | R110 | www.mercuryl.co.zawww.computicket.com

Every Mon | Student night, drink specials & Sun 27 Nov | Kirstenbosch Summer Sixgun SessionsSeries | CPT @ Kirstenbosch Botanical Fri 14 Oct | Mercury Birthday Party | Taxi Gardens | Jack Parow, Van Coke Cartel, Violence & Junkyard ParadeDie Heuwels Fantasties, JR | 15h30 | TBC | Thurs 20 Oct | BluesTown Sessionswww.webtickets.co.zaFri 21 Oct | 7TH SON

Bohemia Stellenbosch:

Villa Pascal:

Café Barcelona:

Die Boer Restaurant Theatre:

Mercury Live Lounge:

0861 2255 98

http://www.audiosure.co.za